A man on a ladder has placed a noose around the neck of a statue of a saint, while below three men stand ready to topple it from its socle. At the right a statue has been brutally hacked in half. In August 1566 fanatic Protestants destroyed altarpieces, statues and sacred vessels used for the Catholic Mass in countless churches throughout the Netherlands. It was a black day in Dutch history, and one rarely depicted in art.